EL SEGUNDO, CA — While many who follow the Los Angeles Kings were glued to the World Wide Web and Twitter to follow the news about what unrestricted free agents were going where, most notably, superstar left wing Ilya Kovalchuk (who is still unsigned as of this writing), the Kings were busy conducting their annual Development Camp for their young prospects, which began on June 28 and ran through July 3.

Three days of the six-day camp were open to the public and the media, comprised of a scrimmage game sandwiched between two practice sessions, featuring prospects ranging from those who have been in the system for awhile to their most recent draft picks.

“I’ve been impressed with some of these players, and, certainly, everybody as far as the work ethic,” said head coach Terry Murray. “It’s been outstanding with the conditioning level and what they’ve been through over the past several days, on and off the ice.”

“A lot of focus, a lot of digging in, hungry and they want to learn,” added Murray. “Attitude. It’s really coming along well. As a group, it’s been tremendous.”

Murray also took note of his team’s five 2010 draft picks, who were all present at the camp.

“All the draft picks seem to be really good kids,” he said. “They’re good people with good character.” Read more of this post

Muzzin, 20, is the captain of the Sault Ste. Marie (Soo) Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League. In 37 games this season, the 6-2, 216-pound native of Woodstock, Ontario has scored ten goals and has added 36 assists for 46 points (leading the OHL in overall scoring by defensemen) with 58 penalty minutes.

Last season, Muzzin was named to the OHL Western Conference All Star Team.

In four seasons with the Greyhounds, Muzzin has scored 23 goals and has contributed 74 assists for 97 points in 203 regular season games. In 23 playoff games, he has a goal and seven assists for eight points. Read more of this post

EL SEGUNDO, CA — The Los Angeles Kings 2009 Development Camp for their young prospects, which ended on July 12, was rather different from camps held in previous years for several reasons.

One was the fact that only three days of the week-long camp were open to the public and the media to allow the young players to better focus on the task at hand.

But another more striking reason was that compared to previous camps, there seemed to be a greater intensity during both the scrimmages and the practice sessions and much of that may have been due to the fact that the Kings have brought in a number of prospects who not only are capable of playing a physical brand of hockey, but their toughness and fierce, competitive nature extends into their psyche as well, something that has been somewhat lacking throughout the Kings’ system.

One of those trades sent center Brian Boyle (photo at left; courtesy Los Angeles Kings) to the New York Rangers in exchange for the Rangers’ third round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

In 28 games with the Kings this past season, the 24-year-old native of Hingham, Massachusetts scored four goals and added an assist with 42 penalty minutes. But he shuttled back and forth between Los Angeles and the Kings’ primary minor league affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, where he scored ten goals and added eleven assists for 21 points with 73 penalty minutes in 42 games.

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